General Procedure for Copper-Free Coupling Reactions

General Procedure for Copper-Free Coupling Reactions 

In a 50 ml round-bottomed flask, isobutyryl chloride (1.27 g, 12 mmol) and 10 ml of THF were placed. Next, 20 ml of 0.5 M solution of 2-pyridylzinc bromide (PI) in THF (lOmmol) was added into the reaction flask via a syringe. The resulting mixture was stirred at rt for 4h. The reaction was monitored by GC analysis, quenched with saturated NH4CI solution, and then extracted with ether (30mix3). Combined organics were washed with saturated NaHCOs solution and brine and then dried over anhydrous MgS04. A vacuum distillation gave 0.94 g of 2-methyl-l-pyridin-2-yl-propan-l-one (2d) as a colorless oil in 63% isolated yield. 

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